It’s a beautiful and warm day out here in the desert for Day 1 of Stagecoach in Indio, and by early in the day fans were scattered throughout the grounds — noshing on BBQ, drinking cold beer, riding mechanical bulls, shopping in merch tents and taking in opening acts like Victoria Williams, Bobby Bare, Baxter Black (very Garrison Keillor-esque before Waddie Mitchell‘s cowboy poetry on the Mustang stage) as well as Tiger Army frontman Nick 13 (pictured above), making his debut in a country guise, on the side stages.

And most everyone seems to be in relaxation mode, which is fine by me.

Nick 13 seemed to be right at home on the Palomino stage, inside the biggest tent at the fest. In trademark shades and a fresh gray Nudie suit with stripes, his many tattoos creeping up his neck and out from his collar, the sometimes timid psychobilly vocalist and guitarist immediately fell into his new element out here in the desert. (It helped that he had a few hard-core Tiger Army fans on hand: “All right, you’ve heard of us, I wasn’t sure,” he said when he initially mentioned the band’s name.)

Performing tracks from his coming solo album (he says it will finally drop in the next month or two), California boy Nick quickly served up some new ones: “When They Carry My Body Down,” “101,” “All Alone” and “Gambler’s Life.” Although a good chunk of the modest crowd that gathered for his set no doubt wondered “Nick who?,” the NorCal-born, L.A.-based songwriter seemed to win over those new to him who ducked into Palomino simply for a bit of shade.

His dedicated followers, of course, were elated just to see him. Two young ladies decked out in rockabilly gear and stationed in the front row were literally in tears when Nick 13 stepped out on stage.

Nodding to his main endeavor the past decade, Nick also offered up a countrified version of “Cupid’s Victim” (something we’ve seen a few times from him at the annual Hootenanny in Irvine) as well as “Outlaw Heart,” which he dedicated to two of his heroes, Ray Price and Merle Haggard, both of which play Palomino after his performance.

Meanwhile, on the Mane Stage, husband-and-wife duo Joey + Rory, recent winner of the Academy of Country Music Awards top new vocal duo of the year, kicked their Stagecoach debut off by heading straight into their hit single “Cheater, Cheater,” which instantly had fans dancing (the ones energetic to get up out of their lawn chairs, that is). “A Little More Country Than That” also went over well — if it sounded familiar, that’s because Rory wrote that track for country artist Corbin Easton.

They also included “That’s Important to Me,” which will be the first single off their sophomore album, appropriately titled Album #2 … and midway into their set they slipped into their scaled-back take on Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Free Bird.”

What a fine start to a very chill day full of breezy country tunes. Cheers, my fellow Stagecoachians! Here’s to the good times.

Kelli Skye Fadroski lives for entertainment. She’s worked at The Orange County Register since 2006 and has covered all things music, stand-up comedy, horror and more. When she’s not out reviewing a concert or interviewing some random famous person, she’s catching up on episodes of “The Walking Dead,” somewhere sampling craft beer, enjoying Taco Tuesday or yelling at the contestants through the TV on “Celebrity Name Game” for not knowing basic pop culture trivia. She’s also a diehard Detroit Lions fan.

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